Penn State: By the Numbers

We came across this outdated Alumni Association list of cool Penn State numbers, chock full of Graham Spanier references and low THON fundraising totals. In that light, we decided to make our own for 2014. Here are 50 Penn State facts, ranging from the total pounds of milk that go through the Creamery’s holding tanks a year to number of freshman applications submitted last year.

1,930,000,000 — total dollar amount of Penn State’s endowment.

808,000,000 — dollars spent on research in 2012. $507 million came from federal grants.

750,318 — all-time degrees awarded by Penn State. The first Penn State degrees were given in 1861.

750,000 — cones and bowls of ice cream sold each year at the Creamery.

616,000 — total living alumni.

172,732 — dues paying alumni in the Alumni Association, the largest in the world.

110,753 — fans broke the Beaver Stadium attendance record. Penn State defeated Nebraska 40-7 on September 14, 2002.. That season, Penn State set a record for biggest NCAA attendance.

106,572 — is the actual capacity of Beaver Stadium. Beaver Stadium is the second-largest stadium in the country, behind Michigan Stadium, and fourth-largest in the world behind Rungnado May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea and Salt Lake Stadium in India.

98,097 — total students attend Penn State across all campuses. Enrollment is at an all-time high, due to in-part a nine-percent increase of enrollment at World Campus.

95,000 — cubic feet of gas generated from Wastewater Treatment Plant a day when students are at school.

708 — dancers in THON each year (except last year). The first THON had 78 dancers.

409 — wins by Joe Paterno during his head coaching tenure. Paterno’s record breaking 324th win to go ahead of Bear Bryant for most Division I victories came against Ohio State in 2001.

160+ — majors offered at Penn State.

131 — countries represented by current students.

126 — seasons of football in the history of Penn State.

100 — words in the modern version of the alma mater. The song was written by Fred Lewis Pattee in 1901. In 1975, the words were changed to be less male-oriented.

70 — national Division I athletic championships across all Penn State sports. Fencing and men’s gymnastics have each won 12. At least one Penn State sports team team has won a national championship for the past seven seasons.

61 — years Joe Paterno coached at Penn State. Paterno joined the staff as an assistant in 1950 and became head coach in 1966 and coached until 2011.

46 — hour no sitting, no sleeping dance marathon each year. The first THON lasted 30 hours was soon extended to 48 hours. When THON moved to the Bryce Jordan Center, it was shortened to 46 hours.

43 — Super Bowls that Penn Staters have played in. This number will become 44 after Sunday’s Super Bowl, with Seattle Seahawks Michael Robinson and Jordan Hill.

36 — Penn Staters drafted in the first round of the NFL, including 10 since 2000. In 2000, Courtney Brown was drafted No. 1 overall and LaVar Arrington wad drafted No. 2. Jared Odrick was the last Nittany Lion to be drafted in the first round back in 2010.

35 — former Penn State football players who have won Super Bowls. Jimmy Kennedy and Kareem McKenzie were the most recent Nittany Lions to win a Super Bowl. They won with the Giants in 2012. This will be the fourth consecutive year Penn State will have former players in the Super Bowl.

27 — bowl wins for Penn State. Penn State’s last bowl victory was in 2010 at the Capital One Bowl in a 19-17 win over LSU.

24 — total Penn State campuses.

17 — presidents of Penn State. Penn State is currently searching for its 18th president, with President Rodney Erickson set to retire in June of this year.

12 — degrees awarded in 1861, the first Penn State graduating class. In the 2012-2013 academic year, Penn State awarded 21,386 degrees.

11 — Fulbright student scholars were from Penn State. Five faculty were also given the award. Penn State tied Johns Hopkins and NYU as the 29th-best producer of Fulbright scholars from U.S. research institutions.

5th — best football attendance nationally in 2013 with 96,585 fans on average. The number is down about 100 from the year before, but five years ago Penn State was averaging 108,917 fans per game.

4 — consecutive women’s volleyball national championships from 2007-2010. After losing in the regional semifinals in 2011 and the national semifinals in 2012, the Penn State women’s volleyball team won the national championship again this past season, defeating Wisconsin in four sets.

3 — consecutivewrestlingnational championships since 2011. Cael Sanderson joined the Nittany Lions in 2010, and a year later the team won its first championship. The team is currently ranked the best team in the NCAA, and they will seek their fourth consecutive national championship in March.

2 — national championship football teams in 1982 and 1986, after winning the Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl respectively. Penn State was an undefeated 12-0 during the 1986 season.

1 — Heisman winner, running back John Cappelletti in 1973. Penn State retired Cappelletti’s jersey #22 this past season at the home opener game. He is the only Nittany Lion to ever have his jersey retired.

About Author

I'm a freshman Public Relations major. I was born in Staten Island, but I prefer to say I'm from New York City. I went to Brooklyn Tech High School, a specialized high school, and I'm very proud of it. I'm a huge sports fan - mostly (and sadly) a New York Jets fan.